Dear IDPF Members

I wish to submit my name to act on your behalf as an IDPF Board Member

My name is James Macfarlane I am the CEO of Easypress Technologies, my reason for seeking your vote for IDPF Board membership is based on the belief that International Standards bodies are a force for change through regulation, discussion and agreement within any particular industry. Historically significant standards bodies like IDPF have to meet the needs of the community first over the demands of the market. I believe I can help give IDPF the international focus for that change in an emerging market where IDPF needs to lead in shaping and moulding the future for eBooks, which is why I’m seeking your vote.

 
The very good new for IDPF is that interest in international standardization amongst both North American and European publishers is growing, however I fear currently that IDPF as an organization is under represented in Europe and it does need a much stronger standardization presence and commitment here in Europe.

Mass adoption of EPUB standards by the industry particularly in North America places IDPF in a unique and pivotal position in the eBook revolution in the ways everyday people around the world will purchase, read and learn from books they read in the future – as leaders in this new technology we have a duty to ensure that future enjoyment and the freedom that comes from the simple act of reading a eBook is maintained in the traditions of the printed book market.

Clearly, the content that people read electronically is not IDPF’s concern; nor how and in what form that content is delivered – these are down to the market. What IDPF must continue to do is ensure that we all have the freedom of choice from the content we choose.

Although many of us agree that we are still at an early stage in the eBook revolution, I believe that the IDPF needs to continue its excellent work in setting a clear vision in this emerging market which in time will be of deep significance to us all; by ensuring practical steps are taken within the community of both suppliers and consumers in such a way that everyone can directly benefit from an internationally recognized set of leading ePUB standards.

What experience I can bring to IDPF is a deep understanding of publishing processes from across the publishing industry and how the EPUB standards can be applied to meet the practical needs for you and our IDPF members. If elected I will work for the IDPF to support and prompt its aims whilst strengthening its influence, particularly here in Europe, as I believe that we are currently under-represented in Europe and we need to strive to rectify that position by serving the needs of both the IDPF community and our broader concerns.

In conclusion, mainstream publishing market for just North America and Europe is worth more than $100bn and it contains more than 64,000 publishers. In 2006, UNESCO calculated that globally there were more than 650,000 new book titles published annually. Using industry printing averages this equates to nearly 2.3bn printed books with North America and Europe accounting for nearly 60% of all new books published. In that year the WTO calculated that the printed book market alone consumed 48m tonnes of wood-pulp and 22m barrels of oil as ink.

I believe eBooks point the way to expanding readership globally and providing choice at a sustainable level in terms of consuming natural resources – free, open and available publishing standards are prerequisite to the future development of our society.

Thank you for taking the time to read my nomination paper.

Yours faithfully,
James Macfarlane CEO – Easypress Technologies Limited

James Macfarlane: is CEO of Easypress Technologies which is the global leading supplier of XML technology for Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Word. James is a British European based in London, originally an engineer holding both graduate and post graduate degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Science – which has given him a unique perspective for working in the global publishing market. He has more than 20 years experience of working in the publishing industry, originally architecting the first end-to-end news editorial publishing system for radio and TV at the BBC in the late 1980’s. Then moving on in the 1990’s to contributing to the construction of the early major news web portals such as WashingtonPost.com, FT.com and G&J.com in Germany. He was a founder and a main board director of Sopheon Plc, a London based publicly quoted company building Innovation Management software for the Global 1000; James spent nearly three years living and working in the US whilst founding its North American business in Minneapolis and Denver.